Method of building subaqueous foundations.



No. 707,093. Patented Aug. I9, I902.

J. T. rum). 7 METHOD OF BUILDING SUBAOUE OUS FOUNDATIONS.

(Appliation filed Apr. 10, 1902.) (II 0 M o d ql.)

H/IRD PAN WITNESSES INVENTOR Allorney I TH: "cam: PETERS co.. PHO'rp-Ln'na. wnsnmcmm n. c.

' UNITED "STATES L'PATE-NTZT JAMES T. FORD, on CARTAGENAVCOLOMBIA,

METHOD OF BUILDING s'u AQuEous FOUNDATIONS.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of LettersIE'atent N0. 707,093,'dated August 19, 1.902.

I Application filed April 10, 1902. Serial No. 102,280. No model.) i I r T at whom it may-concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES T. FORD, a resident of Cartagena, Colombia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of- Building Subaqueous Foundations; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same. I v

My invention relates to an improved method of building subaqueous or submarine foundations, the primary object of the invention being to provide a method whereby foundations can be constructed upon the bed-rock of waterways, which has heretofore been utterly impossible by the aid of known methods, a

and, further, to vastly 'cheapenthe construction of submarine foundations even though the conditions be such as to make it possible for building by known methods.

Heretoforein the construction of foundations for dams, bridge-piers,&c., on strata of rock that underlie more or less porous earths, with water on top in-beds of rivers and the like, it has been the practice to construct cotter-dams in the water at first and work downward by ordinaryexcavation to such depth as may be possiblefor the cotter-dam;

but as the depth increases, it becomes necessary to keep the water out by other means than pumping, and an air-tight V caisson of wood or metal is used and kept free of Water by air-pressure, as is wellunderstood. As.

the'caisson is moved downward a greater airpressure is needed to keep out the water. This air-pressure is extremely inguriousto the workmen, resulting in what is known as the caisson disease? and usuallygreatlyl shortening the lives of those engaged in such work. Beyond a certain depth, which it issafe to say is one hundred and twenty feet, the caisson cannot be used, for. the reason that such enormous air-pressure, which would be nearly four atmospheres, is required to keep out the water that workmen cannot live therein, and hence where it is necessary to build foundations more than one hundred and twenty feet below water-level such work has been deemed impossible and abandoned, and even where it has not been necessary to go below this depth the workhas been abanmethod carried out.

doned owing to the great expense of con structing the foundations withfthe caisson, andwhilemy improved method will noten-j tirely dispense with the use of thecaisson and otherknown methods it will dispense with their use at extremely dangerous and costly depths, the foundation up and reduce the danger to which the workmen are subjected to the minimum.

With these objects inview the invention.

consists in certain novel steps of the method which will be more fully hereinafter. explained, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figurel is a view illustrating a section taken through a river and bed and showing my improved Fig. 2 is a view in secor, in other words, will build from bed-crock toa point where the caisson and other knownlnethodsv can be employed without inordinate expensetion on the line can; of Fig. 1, and Fig.3 is a view of a partially-completed tunnel.

1 represents the water of a river', 2, 3, 4., and 5 underlying strata of earth more orless impervious to water,and16 the bed-rock,which Q for the purpose of illustrating my invention is shown with a? surface of rather extreme unevenness. r 1

In carrying out .my improved method 1 the first step is tosink shafts 7 and 8,,respec-1 tively, on opposite sides-ofthestream and as near thereto as is safe from floods andthe like and directly in thealine'ment of: the pro,- posed work; These shafts are carried down to bed-rock 6,which we will suppose is one hundred and fifty feet below water-level, which would be of sufficient depth to make all known methods practically worthless and with which the foundations could not be built. At the bottomof both shafts the workmen now begin to tunnel toward the center of the river-' bed, following the course of the. bedrock, filling in the uneven surface withgcement. As the tunnel progresses it is-braced by-tim bers '9 and the walls cemented; For, instance, for the purpose of illustration we will say thatwe dig a tunnel twenty feet 100 in diameter and line the same with a cement wall 10-say seven feet thick-thus leaving an arched opening of six feet in width large enough to permit the removal of the excavation. I preferably leave a space. at the top sufliciently large to enable the workmen to ram or pack the cement, and the top timbers can be used as side timbers for the tunnel next above, as will be hereinafter explained. If the bed-rock takes a sudden depression, as shown at 11 in the drawings, the workmen will dig down to a comparatively lower plane and tunnel as before, when a second tunnel can be built on top of this lower tunnel, as clearly shown at 12. When a comparatively level foundation is thus formed from one shaft to the other, another tunnel 13 is built on top of the first, and so on until the foundation rises to the desired height or until a stratum is reached which is pervious to water, permitting a too great quantity to pass therethrough to be removed by pumps and other known methods. When such a contingency arises, the foundation will be necessarily of a height which will permit the remaining portion to be built with the aid of the caisson or other known methods without undue expense and danger.

If desired, the tunnels can be left open, thus leaving the foundation for all time open for inspection, or, if preferred, the tunnels may be filled in solid after completion.

While it might at first appear-to the untutored mind that niyimproved method might be impracticable by reason of the uncertainty of the condition of the various strata of earth which might be encountered, still every careful engineer by the aid of numerous borings should know the precise condition and location of all strata which will be encountered, and he can thereby. avoid any danger of encountering a condition which would make it impossible to keep out or remove the water which might, owing to the peculiar formation of earth strata, flow too rapidly into the excavation. This, however, is a condition of afiairs which rarely exists as far below the river-bottom as my construction of tunneling would begin and at any event could only result in compelling the engineer to select another site for the foundation.

My improved method embodies four distinct features of advantage: First, and most important, it enables submarine foundations to be built which by any before-known method were impossible; second, foundations can be cheaper and better built in locations which might be built byknown methods; third, the foundation can be constructed according to my method which will always be open to inspection, and, fourth, the river and strata immediately underlying the same are not disturbed until the foundation is almost completed, as the foundation begins at bed-rock and grows upward to a point where the remaining portion can be completed in a comparatively short time, thus avoiding all flood or storm damage during the protracted period of construction of such work under present methods where very costly precautions are necessary to prevent accident.

I would of course have it understood that I do not wish to be limited to the number of tunnels side by side nor on top of each other nor use of cement walls as a foundation, as I might use walls of stone, brick, or other material; nor is the precise shape of the tubnels essential, as they can be varied at will and according to the varying conditions which may be met with.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A method of constructing subaqueous foundations, consisting in first sinking a shaft, then tunneling beneath the water-bed, and then reinforcing said tunnel from within to convert it into a superstructure-supporting foundation.

2. A method of building subaqueous foundations consisting in first sinking a shaft beyond the waters edge and down to bedrock, then excavating along bed-rock, walling said excavation, excavating on top of said foundation thus formed, and walling said second excavation.

3. A method of constructing subaqueous foundations consisting in first sinking shafts on opposite sides of the waters edge, down to bed-rock, then tunneling along bed-rock from shaft to shaft walling or lining the tunnel as it is dug, then building another tunnel on top of the first and so on up to the desired height.

4. A method of constructing subaqueous foundations consisting in first sinking shafts on opposite sides of the water a safe distance from the waters edge and down to bed-rock, thentunneling along bed-rock from shaft to shaft cementing the tunnel-walls to the desired thickness, and then building tunnel on tunnel until the desired height is reached.

5. A method of constructing subaqueous foundations consisting in sinking one or more shafts to the desired depth, then tunneling from said shaft or shafts beneath the waterbed to the desired length for the foundation, then walling, lining or filling said tunnel or tunnels, and then erecting the dam or other structure on said tunnel or tunnels.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES T. FORD. W'itnesses:

S. W. Fos'rnn, R. S. FERGUSON. 

